should i bother to upgrade?

[Zargon]

would like to step up into an eyefinity or nvidia surround setup.

Sapphire 4850x2

Q9550, 4gb of ddr2-1066(main rig in sig)

I have 2x hanns G 28's

I can run BC2 pretty much maxed ot and stay around 60fps(never getting less than 50)

can I do that with a 5870 in eyefinity if I get another 28?

currently running this mobo: ASUS P5G41-M

but have a ecs black p45 that supports xfire back from RMA(the g41 was bought to use while I waited for ECS to get their shit together and give me an RMA. it doesnt officially support my cpe though, so I cant kill it and get another RMA)

not sure I wanna go the xfire route again as it causes more issues with some games, and I can't SLI either obviously.

does the gtx 460 or wahtever fit my needs?

or is it time to build a new rig and start over? step up to ddr3 and a core i5/7 or a new phenom ii x4/x6?

the q9550 is only a year old and I never oc it, so its worth some coin if I dont put it in my wifes rig when I ditch this machine.

 

[Leyawiin]

Your current specs are pretty strong. Unless you aren't getting the performance you need from your current games, why spend the money? Don't really know anything about eyefinity.

 

[Zargon]

it mwans I would game in a 3x1 display mode, so big time surround view gaming, huge FOV

not sure what kinda fps I can expect though on newer games like bc2

 

[netxzero64]

zargon, buy a 5970 for maximum gaming experience plus eyefinity if you have the bucks =D...

a 5870 may suffice depending on what games do you want to play and what level of detail on your eyefinity to be setup...

 

[AtenRa]

GTX470 in SLI would be better but because you can’t use SLI with your motherboard get an HD5970 if you can afforded. HD5870 would do with 3 monitors but performance will degrade.

 

[Zargon]

yeah I was afraid of that.

not sure my wife will be thrilled with the price tag

I should get another 28 now, so that when I want to order that card the purchase doesnt seem so big

I was thinking about building a new rig this winter, but with not much coming down the pipeline, not sure its worth it to spend the case to go thuban + ddr3 + 5870 or 5970 or SLI.

hell I'm not sure I can even actualy spend 700 bucks on a GPU, just seems INSANE.

with how much better SLI seems to scale than crossfire, maybe I'll just 'make due' with the 4850X2 till I build a new rig and go SLI then


going eyefinity just seems pointless if I end up running everything at medium res with no aa or af just to get like 50fps

 

[happy medium]

Overclock your cpu the best you can and get back to us. A stock Q9550 is a little slow for a 5970 or even a 5870. Get your cpu to 3.4 or more and you will extend the life of your system for about a year.

Depending on your overclock, we can help chose a better gpu for your needs.

If you don't overclock, I would suggest a single card (5870) and no eyefinity or possibly a new i7/i5 system.

That Biostar xfire board sucks. No overclocking whatsoever.

 

[Zargon]

I've had it at 3.2 before on the stock HSF. I have an asus aftermarket cooler on it now but at the stock clock.

really digging into what a good i5/i7 system is going to run me I am thinking I should just wait.

Not any big games in the immedaite pipeline to worry about anyways before black friday.


I would def need a better cooler to really OC much I am guessing, I beleieve what I have in asus triton, not that much better cooling than OEM, but quieter.

 

[netxzero64]

GTX470 in SLI would be better but because you can’t use SLI with your motherboard get an HD5970 if you can afforded. HD5870 would do with 3 monitors but performance will degrade.

I think even with a crossfire setup, you can do an SLI setup also...

 

[MegaWorks]

I think even with a crossfire setup, you can do an SLI setup also...

Yes you can but with SLI hack and forceware 257.xx and lower.

 

[Zargon]

I think even with a crossfire setup, you can do an SLI setup also...

yeah but my pseudo budget g41 doesnt do it

I need to sell my fresh from RMA ecs black, maybe get something I can do SLI on, and more than 2 sticks of ram